Fruit-grading apparatus.



Patented 0011.21, 1913.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

B.. H. PEAGOCK.

FRUIT GRADING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.19, 1912.

R. E. PEAGOGK.'

FRUIT GRADING APPARATUS.

`APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 19. 1912.

Patennewoet. 21, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

m NVENTUH 9066/22 asock monugrs R. H. PEACOGK.

FRUIT GRADING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 19. 1912.

1,*O'76,642 Patented oct. 21, i913.

3 SHEETS-SHBET 3.

WITNESS/58 NJ, aiu/6% INVENTOH To @35 wher/:i if? may @oei/cem it ltiiewii that il, loizinirr i:liieeeii, :i citizen @if the lliu- ,ed Sintesi, md zi i Ysident et lfllinterlieveii, in the eeuuty el .lfolli und i, Stifteei'i Floride, lieve invented. i new and improved lfiiit ,l eperetus, 'which the :felleiviiig'is i, full, eleiiig'it-iidj. ietf description.

My invention relates te apparatus gfiiding fruit, and p arteularly fruits; ef eertziiri'elziss, sueli :is oranges, the quality et Wliicli is deie iiiiiieil by the amount i' juice which, the fruit contains.

it is Well lmowii that ere. e5 ef me size eeiiteiii isiere uiee end here inlener skins it they ei'e heavy than ii' they are light, und, 'uirtlier, that lieziv. remi, eei'itziies rielier giuiee a ,eiieial'tiiiiig the, u other things being; "li ditl'erenees iii mind i iuit handling machine m which the eriuz :ire graded :lifter being; according to the weight thereof, und. dis ri'iiiited in .liiixs lpreparatory te melting; een. shipping there te market.

Reference ,is te be had te tliee iieeeiiipzmv ing drawings eriiiing :i part ei this specilicetieii, in which the suine characters of ret ereiice indicate the same iii all the views. )y

Figure l is top plain of section et a packing heuse comprising is, number @if bluff and the grading apparatus us fl iiifeeimeetien therewith; fe-ig 2 i loix iiudiiuil sei tien on the iiiie 2--2 ef Fig., l; lliig 5 is :i loiijitudirizil seetien on the line of Fig. l; lfifg. 1lis :i vertical transverse section en the line f---ei et Fig; i; Fig. 5 is :i similar section, showing' the pai iii e, different eperating position; aud il of ene ei lilie seele pens which is operated by tlie .veiglit of the orange passing over the saine, te lie tilted.

Although tlie qiuilities ef gend oranges are well lnowsx, it has been Very difiieult lierete'lere to sert tlle li'iuit piep/Hy before sending the same te iiiziiliet, oeeiiuse lmud labor :1nd the judgment of the puelizeis lmve generally been relied upon te (lo this sert ol' Work. l Such. iiietlieds have ne 'esem-ily proven to be miszitisfaetery luv-,mise each grower would have his iuit sorted eeeoiding' to luis own ideas @if the uuiility of his erop, er rather the idees ef his ii' iz\lizig'er eudnur.

the men under the meiwrsdirection.`

ter'

ig: tl is ef iep plaie Hence, fruit Shipped trem. e eertziiiiseetion uid regierte/l te lee elf ii certain Standard' er quality will n eeessiirily vary Widely' Within Certain limite, zuid is 'rvitli'siieli conditions in ,uiiiid tlifit lieve devised ai] automa-tie 'fruit grading deviee which will operate 'to sert out the fruit recording to en unvarying .m standard ei'f Weight :uid quality. iiijig particularly' te ther d "uwmgs, l employ e pzieliiiig heuse which is divided inte iiuiulier of sectionsarranged eu either side ofthe leugitui'liuzil center line thereof. A pair et suoli sections er eerripiirluien-ts is indieuted ley 'the immerel l eri the drawings, and the ii'iiiei end of eieli section er eempurtiiieiit is leesited iii pi'exii'nity te zi, trough 2, iii which, nieve coni/'ever belts 3, this trough eteiidiiig :ross the ends ei' the eempartmenis er .sections i; and eael'i oit the eeuipertiiieiils luis e spout er chute 4,' which extends tree-i eue side ef the treugli te. deliver te tlie eeii1p-^irtiiient the fruit' tolle graded. The outer eed el each of' these chutes has e, baille/plate 5 prejeetiiig'therefrom in e diagonal direction withy reference unequal. leugths, one et them operating te deflect Afruit er other articles tol be graded 0n one ef the belts inte'oiie et the sieuts e, andthe other operating te ydeflect t e fruit er other articles ciirried ey the other belt inte the other chiite lt will be seen by referring te Fig, 2, tlizit tlie belts 3 lire moved forward by means of n, shaft t3' carrying ai xvlieel 7 v/liieli receives; the Operating belts, nud having i Wheel S mounted thereon lover wliieli the 'belts pass. 'illiis Wlieel 8 and the shaft t5 muy lie located se as te engage the endless belts 3 at the end of the leopstliereof, :is will lie readily understood.

The numeral 9 indicates e stmulard'lifivini;- :i bearing at ils top in which tile shaft 6 is irmunted, tlie other end of the shaft beiri lfruit or ether articles te be gradedai'e delivered to tile lxelt 3 by meaiis et a'suiteble simi', one of die belts 3 carrying fruit e'eii'e sire :md the other belt'ly carrying fruit of e dilifei'ent size, the lead borne' byeeeh belto lie graded according to the Weight thereef iii a meiiner liereiigifter described,1 f (course l' may use e sing-le trough having only one belt therein for each compartment l, er fl muv dispense with the trough en-f to the trough 2, tl'iese baille-plates being of' tively and deliver fruit ottone size te each carried in,the side oi a section l, idesiie'.

of the chutes 4 from the sizer direct. It is not material, however, which form of feeding means I employ,asthe feeding means may be left to the choice or convenience of the packer. It is only necessary to have mechanism which will deliver oranges of one size to each chute 4 in each of the sections or compartments 1, to grade the fruit by weight after the crop has been divided into oranges of certain sizes, in the manner required. v

Each of the discharge sprouts or chutes 4 is wider at its receiving end than at its delivery end, and is provided with a straight the compartment l.

rear side 10, asshown in Fig. 1. The discharge end of each of these spouts 4 is shown at 11, and this discharge end pro.- jects at substantiallyia right angle from the rear side .10, and is in line with a trough 1,2 which passes through the outer wall of Between the adjacent ends of the portions 11 of the sprouts 4 and the troughs 12 are arranged va number of scale pans 13, these scale pans 13 being sepa` rated from each other by means of diagonally-arranged partitions 14; and `communicating with the space `between each two of the -diagonal partitions 14 are conduits through which the oranges roll to the bins into which each compartment is divided. It

. will be noted that at the adjacent end of eachof the scale pans 13 which is nearest to thel'discharge end 11 of the spouts 4, I ar-v range partitidns14,which are not diagonal,

but extend straight across the line along which the spouts 4 deliver, but otherwise this .partition is the same in shape as the '.part,itions 14 above mentioned.

l The conduits which extend to the bins into which `each compartment is divided are indicated by the numerals 15, 16 and 17, and it will bins therefrom.

y, tions.

16 andv 17 delivers into one of the bins of be seen by' referring to Fig. 1, that each compartment contains four bins separated from one another by means of transverse parti- Ea'ch of the conduits or spouts 1,5,

yeach compartment, but no conduit is necessary for the innermost bins or those nearest to the-trough 2; These bins are filled from the scale pans adjacent the boards or artiorang'cs drop directly into these innermost By referring to Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that the scale pans 13 are shaped in `.cross-sect-ion like a flattened V, and the upper ledges of lthe partitions or boards 14 which occupy Vertical positions between the pans 13, are correspondingly shaped. When the scale pans 13 are in horizontal position,

these scale pans and the upper edges of the lsa boards or partitions 14 and 14 'make a smooth bridge over which the fruit can pass from the discharge portions l1 of each spout 4 to the adjacent end of each trough 12, if it' be lacking in Weight and of sufficiently low quality. Each of the scale pans 13 is mounted upon a scale beam 18, which is supported adjacent itscenter upon two standards 19 having apertures 20 in their upper ends to receive tilting upward in front to raise the scalefl pans above the upper edges of the boards or partitions 14. The opposite ends of the beams carry weights 23, and these ends rest upon standards or supports 24. It will be understood that the weights 23 are of different mass, according to the conditions under which the fruit grading machine is operated.

Above each longitudinal row of scale pans 13 I mount a pair of pulleys 25, which operate a conveyor 26 carrying plates 27 projecting from the outer face thereof. The

'rear pulley 25 is mounted upon a spindle 2S, carried in bearings on the upper ends of standards 2t); and the front pulleys 25 arc sccuredto a transverse shaft 30, mounted' in bearings upo-n standards similar to those shown at 29, and having an operating pulley 31.

The manner in which the fruit grading apparatus works will now be apparent. Oranges of one size shown at 33, will be laid in the trough and carried forward by the conveyors 3 past the inner cud of each section or compartment 1. As statedv above, each belt will carry oranges of one size, and the oranges on each belt will be brought in position to be deilectcd in cert ain quantities into the spouts ft, which, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, are inclined from the inlet end to the outer end, sothat the fruit will roll down into the outlet section 1l. This outlet section, as well as the body of the chute 4, will 4be open at the top, as shown in Fig. 3; and: the inner pulleys 25 being located directly` above each of the outlet sections 11 of the chutes 4, the oranges will be engaged by the plates 27, carried by the belts 26, and carried forward upon the scale pans 13. The weights on the ends of the beams 18 which support the sc ale pans 13 will beef dilferent values and they will preferably be adjusted so that the heaviest weight will be nearest the spouts 4, and the lightest weight farthest removed therefrom, with the weights in between of a value to correspond. As a consequence, a very heavy orange, the moment 1t passes upon one of the first ans 13, will overcome the weight and tilt t e pan, to be dropped into one ofl the innermost bins in the compartment Vl. "13o The next heaviest oranges Will tilt the secf ond scale beams and pass intop the conduits 15,- and so on,f-'the lightest-oranges passing as far as the last scale beams before they reach a-Weight of suliicient loW mass to be overbalanced, whereupon these oranges Will. pass .along/the conduits or spouts 17 to the bins of the oranges 33 is readilyv delivered'the' moment it begins to tilt one of the pans 13. This is because, as soon as the scale pan 13 is depressed, the plate 27 Will push the orange therein against the diagonal surface of the board. or partition 13 adjacent the far edge of the scale pan. The orange Will roll along the diagonal surface ofthis board or partition` until it reaches the outer edge of the scale pan 13, being gently propelled by the plate 27 in contact therewith. This is because there will be Aa Wedge-shaped space lbetween the plane of the partition 14 in question and the plane of the plate 27, and the reaction of the partition or surface 14C against the orange when the saine is pressed against the surface 14 by the plate 27, will act to force the orange outward until it rolls over the edge of the scale pan 13 and drops.`

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided an efficient and valuable means for grading orali es and similar fruits according to the Weig t and quality thereof, and -with a machine of this sort, all the variations in the quality of the fruit, due

to errors of human judgment, are-eliminated.

I Wish to have it understood that LI reserve to myself the right to make such changes in the shape, size and arrangement of the parts as ,fairly fall Within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters' Patent 1. Apparatus-of the kind described-com prising a receiving pan means for balancing Lthe same, means for delivering articles to be graded thereto, vthe receivin yand discharge edges of said pan exten ingdiagof nally with respect tothe line of movement of said articles, and a pair of partitions ar-` ranged adjacent said diagonally-extending edges, thetops of said partitions lying flush With the top surface of said pan When the pan is in its balanced position. y

2.- Apparatus of the kind described comprising a receiving pan, means for' balancing the same, means for feeding articles to be graded to said pan, said means comprising a belt having projections extending from itsface the receivinfy and dlschar e.

edges of said pan extending diagonally With respect to the direction of motion of said belt and a pair of plates or partitions on either side of said pan and extending in the same direction as said diagonal edges', said plates or partitions having their top edges registering with the top surface of the pan when the same is balanced, whereby, When the pan .is tilted, the article Willbe engaged by' one of the projections carried by the belt, and the said article lvvill be easily discharged from the pan. y

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speeication in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

` ROBERT H. PEACOCK.

Wi ies: f ,ILLIS E. SMITH, y W. M. HAMPTON. 

